Who Was Nora Ephron?

You whitethorn cognize who Nora Ephron was due to the fact that of her movies — astir apt her unofficial “trilogy” of When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless successful Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail, but possibly besides Bewitched oregon Julie and Julia. Of course, you whitethorn person work 1 (or more) of her books, oregon beryllium acquainted with her done 1 of the galore absorbing radical she was associated with — her sister Delia, her ex-husband Carl Bernstein, her playwright parents, oregon immoderate fig of Hollywood folks who worked with her and were her friends.

But who was Nora Ephron?

Born successful New York City connected May 19, 1941 to playwrights and screenwriters Phoebe and Henry Ephron, Nora and her 3 sisters grew up successful Beverly Hills, California. (Her sister Hallie is simply a writer and transgression novelist, and sisters Delia and Amy are screenwriters.) Nora was named aft the main quality successful Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. She attended Beverly Hills High School and dreamed of being the adjacent Dorothy Parker, but a teacher inspired her to prosecute a vocation successful journalism and she graduated from Wellesley College successful 1962 with a grade successful governmental science.

After an internship astatine the White House, she applied for a occupation penning for Newsweek, but was informed that women were lone allowed to beryllium researchers, secretaries, and different enactment staff. She worked determination arsenic a message miss but discontinue due to the fact that she wanted to write. She aboriginal was a plaintiff successful a people enactment suit against Newsweek for intersexual discrimination. That communicative is recounted successful the publication Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace by Lynn Povich, which was adapted arsenic an Amazon bid (but unluckily was canceled aft 1 season).

She spent the remainder of the 1960s and ’70s gathering a singular career. She wrote a satirical portion for Monocle making amusive of The New York Post, and was promptly offered a occupation astatine the Post, who seemingly had a consciousness of humor. She wrote for the Post for 5 years arsenic a reporter, past landed a file astatine Esquire, wherever she famously wrote an effort astir assemblage representation titled “A Few Words About Breasts.” During this clip she joined and divorced writer Dan Greenburg and past joined Carl Bernstein, the writer who had breached the Watergate ungraded (Nora knew that Deep Throat was Mark Felt, and happily told perfectly anyone who asked, but was ne'er believed). She and Bernstein had 2 sons earlier his matter with a joined writer ended their marriage; she wrote astir it successful her caller Heartburn, which helium threatened to writer her implicit (but ne'er did). While they were inactive married, they co-wrote a screenplay for All the President’s Men, which, portion it was not yet used, kickstarted her Hollywood career.

In the 1980s, Nora co-wrote the movie Silkwood, published Heartburn and wrote the movie adaptation, and wrote the screenplay for When Harry Met Sally, which was nominated for an Academy Award. She besides joined for the 3rd clip successful 1987, to screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, to whom she remained joined until her death.

In the ’90s Ephron acceptable her sights connected directing arsenic good arsenic writing. She co-wrote (with sister Delia) a screenplay based connected Meg Wolitzer’s publication This is Your Life, which she directed arsenic This is My Life (in 1 of the little savory details of Nora’s life, she was bully friends with Woody Allen, and said she made this movie “for him”). She was past hired to rewrite the screenplay for Sleepless successful Seattle, and convinced producers she should besides direct. She brought Delia connected for that film, arsenic well, though she was not credited arsenic a writer, lone arsenic a producer. They past wrote — and Nora directed — Mixed Nuts, a drama starring Steve Martin, and updated the 1940 movie The Shop Around the Corner (based connected the 1937 Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklós László) arsenic 1998’s You’ve Got Mail, which Nora again directed.

Fun fact: Nora lived astatine the Apthorp flat gathering connected New York’s precocious westbound broadside for galore years; that gathering plays the relation of the Arconia connected Only Murders successful the Building. (Emily Martin made a fabulous database of books to work if you emotion Only Murders.)

In the 2000s Nora wrote the screenplay for Hanging Up, directed Lucky Numbers (the lone movie she directed but did not write), and wrote and directed Bewitched and Julie & Julia. She besides published I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts connected Being a Woman, a publication of autobiographical essays, successful 2006, the aforesaid twelvemonth she was diagnosed with myelodysplasia, a humor cancer. She chose not to uncover her diagnosis for fearfulness that it would stymie her career. Her 2nd publication of essays, I Remember Nothing, was published successful 2010, and she died successful 2012. A documentary astir her life, titled Everything is Copy and directed by her lad Jacob Bernstein, was released by HBO successful 2015 and tin beryllium watched connected HBO Max and Hulu.

Just astir everyone who knew Nora Ephron described her arsenic funny, warm, and perfectly brilliant. Her bequest lives connected not conscionable successful her books and films, but besides successful the Tribeca Film Festival’s Nora Ephron Award, a currency prize fixed each twelvemonth to a pistillate writer oregon manager with a chiseled voice. The 2022 prize went to Michelle Garza Cervera for Huesera.